The battered scallop

When you told me you kept a seashell your grandmother gave you, you allowed me to see something. Our conversations fill me with wonder, as they are small revealings, tempting prompts that lead to something more, yet are endlessly satisfying on their own. 

You are a mystery, an enigma, like a seashell without a story. Had you not told me the story, I never would have known where it came from, what it meant, how it made you feel. It is a small treasure, yet it travelled an unknown number of miles. 

So it is with the heart that carried it. Without revealing yourself, little by little, line by line, I never would have stopped to ponder, probe, to discover more. You stopped me in my tracks, not overtly, but tenderly. Simply by being yourself. Other men may not notice what a man of patience and maturity sees. You are not ordinary. You are captivating, in a deep and wonderful way. 

This isn't about a shell. This is about your heart. Like that shell, you don't have to shout to get attention. Your words are not a distraction from my day, but, rather, a calm reservoir from which I look forward to drinking from deeply. I savor your letters, set them aside for later, when it's me alone in a quiet house. I let them freely pass barriers and imprint themselves upon parts beneath the surface. As the saying goes, "Deep calls unto deep." 

I weave my words into moments, too, and often with the goal of making you smile, laugh even. But, I never had such conversations with another woman. There is a gentleness to you, an understanding, empathy, and grace in every paragraph. As if the words come not from fingers but from the heart. A direct line to a woman's heart. Not every man can handle such a thing. 

The nameless tasks we all have to do are made interesting by thoughts of one another. Some days, I'm sure you never leave my thoughts. You are there when I wake, there when I fall asleep, even surfacing in my dreams. 

Someday, I will give you my own shell, or perhaps a sand dollar, which I hope you put away for safe keeping, a memento from a similarly deep-and-feeling heart. 

Thank you for reading. And God bless.

Christian blog: a-better-hope.blogspot.com

And my other blog, None Dare Call It Treason.